Friday, August 15, 2008

Lead: Cindy Simmons

Cindy Simmons [on the right in this photo] was born April 11, 1974, in Regina. She started curling at the age of 8, and learned the game from her parents, Anita and Gary Ford.

Cindy lives in Moose Jaw, with her husband, Pat Simmons (the skip of the men's provincial champions), daughter Makena (3) and son Max (1). She works at the Royal Bank there, as a Financial Planner.

Second: Roberta Materi

Roberta Materi [on the left in the photo above] was also born in Regina. She came to curling as a teenager, learning the basics from her high school coaches. Roberta lives in White City, SK, with her husband and their three children, and she works as a Human Resources Manager for SaskTel.

Roberta is the longest-serving member of the Englot team, having played (with Lorie Kehler and Joan Stricker) on the 2001 Provincial Champions and in the Olympic Trials later that year.

Third: Deanna Doig

Deanna Doig was born March 13, 1972, in Bethune, SK, She started curling there when she was 10, and learned the game from members of the local curling club.

Deanna lives in Emerald Park, SK, with her husband, Shawn Doig, and two children, Aiden (4 1/2) and Anna (3). She works for TransCanada, where she manages Field Operations for the Qu'Appelle area.

Deanna is new to the team this year [and we're still waiting for a photo] but she's no stranger to elite curling. She's been a member of the National Training Center in Calgary for the past decade, and was chosen to represent Canada at an international event in Karuizawa, Japan, in 2003. She has spent the past past four seasons with Heather Rankin's very successful team, appearing in two Canada Cups, three Players Championships and two Alberta provincial championships.

Skip: Michelle Englot

Michelle Englot was born in Montmartre, SK, on January 22, 1964. She started curling there at the age of 12, learning the basics from her grade 6 teacher, Mr. Jim Schnell, before playing on a team with her dad, her mom, and her older brother.

Michelle reached her first national championship in 1983, when she was a junior. Since then, she's played in seven other nationals (once in mixed and six times in women's play), finishing as high as third (twice).

Michelle lives in Regina, where she works for SaskTel as Manager of Corporate Communications. She has two sons [and we have a photo!]; Bret (19) is attending Northwood University in Cedar Hill, TX, on a golf/academic scholarship, and Derek (18) will be starting in Business Administration at the University of Regina next month.